The invention relates to a method of controlling a cage stranding machine comprising at least one stranding cage which holds a plurality of spools for the material being stranded, a removal for the stranded material and a coiling device.
The production output of stranding machines, with a given lay length of the stranded material, is a direct function of the number of revolutions of the stranding cage therefore such machines are designed for the highest possible numbers of revolution to provide maximum production output. In the past, it was customary to run the machines up to a constant operating speed for the respective quantity of stranded material to be produced and to then maintain that speed practically to the end. For example, stranding cages rated at speeds of 320 revolutions per minute were provided to strand aluminum wires. However, such a speed cannot be maintained in practice since, due to unavoidable eccentricities resulting from irregular winding of the spools in the stranding cage. In practice it is possible to operate only at a lower speed in spite of the fact that the machine is designed for the desired number of revolutions per minute. While it is certainly possible structurally, to design such a stranding machine, to operate at the given desired number of revolutions, problems will still result from the eccentricities resulting from the irregularly wound spools while they rotate about their own axes. The individual spools rotating at the same time produce different tensile stresses on the wire supplied from the spool to the stranding locations and these stresses may ultimately be s high at the given rated speeds that the respective wire is stretched until it breaks. In the case of a break in the wire, the machine must be stopped, the two wire ends must be welded together and then the machine can be started up again. To prevent this in the given example, the machine is actually operated, in spite of the given rated number of revolutions, at a lower speed of, for example 250 rpm, so that in the end the intended production output of the machine is not realized.